Welcome to Taipei!

These are words I never expected to read.  "Welcome to Taipei"  I mean, seriously?!?  When did this become my life?  I live in TAIPEI.

I remember the 8th grade field trip to Washington, D.C. and how some of my classmates had never stayed in a hotel before, or been out of Michigan.  By then, I had been to lots of hotels in lots of states.  I knew I was fortunate, and my mom had often reminded me that she hadn't done any of that type of travel until she was married.  So, I've never really taken all the travel and hotels and experiences for granted, but they were also just part of life.

But then we joined the circus.

On one hand, it's just life - not to be taken for granted, but it is what it is.  In order to do his job, my husband has to move from hotel to hotel.  In order to keep our family together, we go with him.  So, my daughter grows up knowing more about living in hotels in different places then I did, and I'm pretty comfortable with it as is.

On the other hand.  Oh My God!  We Live in TAIPEI?!?!?  I mean, a year in Australia was awesome.  Dream come true.  Taipei?  Most of the people I went to high school with couldn't find it on a map.  And I live here now.  A world where my daughter is a magnet for stares because of her white skin and blond hair.  A world where the signs are written in characters I can't even begin to interpret.   This was never a dream, because I wouldn't have imagined it as ever a possibility.  But I can't just take it for granted.  This opportunity, to be part of a world so different from the one where I grew up...  It's not an opportunity to take lightly.